Fig. 8

Dendritic spine density of the TNC neurons in each group. a-e Low magnification of Golgi-Cox staining in the five groups (a: sham group; b: CM group; c: CM + DMSO group; d: CM + PP2 group; e: CM + genistein group, scale bar = 50 μm). a-e Enlarged images of neurons with dendrites that were used for the quantification of the spine density in the five groups; these images correspond to those shown in a-e (a: sham group; b: CM group; c: CM + DMSO group; d: CM + PP2 group; e: CM + genistein group, scale bar = 4 μm). f Golgi-Cox staining showed that the dendritic spine density was significantly higher in the CM group compared with that in the sham group, and there was no significant difference between the CM and CM + DMSO groups. PP2 and genistein significantly reduced the dendritic spine density, indicating that tyrosine-phosphorylated NR2B reduces the dendritic spine density in CM rats (n = 6 each group, *P < 0.05 compared with the sham group, ^#P < 0.05 compared with the CM + DMSO group)